Then Came You
by BsBLady
Summary: Zack thought he was in love with Maya until someone unexpected made him re-think his feelings. Set before Prom. Zack's POV. ZxL. No lemons!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This one is for my friend because she is a big fan of SLOD & especially a big fan of Zack & London. Set the week before prom & the entire story is in Zack's POV. Please read & review!

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><p><em>Man, what am I going to do<em>, thought Zack as he was wiping down the counter of the juice bar thinking about his problem. Prom was only a week away and every student in Seven Seas High was busy making plans and getting ready for the big day. Everyone was so excited! That is, everyone but Zack. _Maya is going to think I'm such a loser if I'm not able to come up with the cash to take her to dinner at the Coral Lounge on Prom Night_, Zack thought.

Zack had been putting in extra shifts at the juice bar to try to earn more money. But the ship was currently docked in New York, so the juice bar wasn't as busy as it normally was. Still, he made sure to come to work instead of going ashore. In an effort to look busy, Zack started wiping the counters harder as Mr. Moseby walked up to the counter.

"Hard at work, Zack, or hardly working?" Mr. Moseby said as he perused the papers on his clipboard.

Seeing a possible answer to his dilemma, Zack said, "Mr. Moseby, that hurts. By the way, did you notice I mopped the floor back here?"

Mr. Moseby looked up from his clipboard, narrowed his eyes at Zack, and replied, "What do you want?"

Putting on his most placating smile, Zack said, "Now, now, no need to be hostile, I was just wondering if you could give me a cash advance on my paycheck."

Mr. Moseby rolled his eyes, muttered an "Oh dear", and trying to be patient said, "Zack, I have given you cash advances on your last two paychecks. I'm afraid I won't be able to do it this time."

"But, Mr. Moseby, I need money to take Maya out to dinner before the Prom!"

"Here's an idea: Pack a lunch" Mr. Moseby said as he walked away.

_Well there goes that idea_, thought Zack as he stared after Mr. Moseby.

"Hey Zack"

Zack turned towards London as she walked up to the juice bar and sat down. She looked like a million bucks as usual, but there was something different about her. She wasn't smiling and she looked like someone told her she was poor.

"Hey London, what's the matter with you?"

"Nothing, "London said, and then she sighed and blurted out, "Ok, fine I'll tell you! I'm bummed because I don't have a date to the prom!"

Raising his eyebrows at this outburst, but suddenly thinking this could be another solution to his problem, Zack said, "That's because you've turned down every guy that's asked you, and the rest are too scared to ask you. But, I think I have a solution to your problem. Why don't I coach you in how to be more approachable to guys?"

"Hey! I don't need help getting a guy!" London exclaimed.

Zack sighed and said, "Let's regroup here. Do you or don't you have a date to the prom?"

"Oh yeah, I see your point."

"Well, my shift is over in ten minutes. What say you give me $1,000 for expenses and we'll get started right away."

"Expenses? What Expenses?" London asked suspiciously.

"Err, umm . . . Coaching fees."

London thought about it for a moment, smiled vacantly, and said, "Right. I'll meet you back here in 10 minutes" London said as she turned to walk away.

"Better make that 20 minutes. I want to go back to my cabin to change!" Zack yelled at London's retreating figure.

Chuckling and mentally giving himself a high five, Zack thought, _this is going to be fun._

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><p>"Hold on!" Zack yelled as he was pulling on a shirt in his cabin.<p>

"Zack! I've been waiting for you up by the juice bar for the past 10 minutes!" London yelled back from the other side of his cabin door.

Zack opened the door & pulled down the rest of his shirt to find an irate London. Being that London was one of his closest friends, he was used to her being impatient.

"I said I would meet you in 20 minutes, not 10."

"Oh whatever, let's go!" London grabbed his hand and started tugging him along.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the one coaching you!" Zack said as he sped up his pace to get ahead of London, "Besides, you're going the wrong way. I'm going to take you to the other side of the ship to show you what kind of clothes you should wear to be more approachable."

At this London stopped in her tracks, "Uh uh! You are _not_ taking me there!" and she started digging in her heels.

"Oh, yes, I am. If you're serious about wanting a date to prom, you need to trust me" Zack said as he held tightly to London's hand in case she tried to bolt, and pulled her along.

They entered a boutique that Zack knew Maya shopped in, and while Zack scanned the items of clothing, London was hiding behind him, gripping the back of his shirt with her eyes closed and her face pressed into his back.

"London, it's okay, you can open your eyes."

"No, I can't! Someone might see me in here!" London grumbled into his shirt.

At this, Zack turned around to face her, held her by the shoulders and said, "Get over it! Your dad owns this ship and this boutique, so no one is going to care if you buy something here."

London sighed and opened her eyes. She stared into Zack's eyes for a few seconds, possibly trying to gather strength from him, and nodded her head. In those few seconds, staring into London's eyes, Zack realized something for the first time in the six years of being friends with London. London was _vulnerable_. For a split second, Zack had the insane urge to pull London to him and hold her.

"Fine. Now that we're here, what do you think I should buy" London said dejectedly breaking Zack's thought process and bringing him back to the reason they were in the boutique.

Zack turned towards the items of clothing again and rubbed his hands together. Having "helped" Mr. Moseby once with his wardrobe, he was actually enjoying this. But this time, he was really going to help London be more approachable because the fact that she was still in the boutique was a testament to how badly she wanted to go to prom with a date. Plus, ever since he was a 12 year old kid, he always wondered how she would look as a normal girl instead of an heiress.

Zack walked over to a pile of jeans and picked out a stone washed pair of cropped skinny jeans, and then he walked over to the tops and picked out a fitted, bright pink, off-the-shoulder top.

Zack said, "Here, try these on" and handed the clothes to London, who grabbed them, rolled her eyes, and marched towards the fitting room.

Zack lazily followed her, and waited outside of the fitting room. He could hear the rustle of clothes as London changed, and he was struck with an uneasy feeling that he was doing something wrong. Maya was ashore, visiting her family, and shopping for last minute things for the prom. In fact, she was due back on the ship the day before prom. _Get a grip, Zack! You're not doing anything wrong!_ Zack mentally chided himself.

Then again, Zack wasn't so sure how Maya would react to him helping London. Maya didn't exactly trust him with other girls, but then again, London wasn't just any girl – she was one of his best friends. Then yet again, London was a beautiful girl and could make a potato sack look amazing. Not to mention, she had a great body. _Whoa! Where did that thought come from?_

Zack shook his head to clear his strange thoughts when he heard the door to the dressing room open. He waited for London to step out, and when she didn't, he said, "Are you going to come out or do you want me to go in?"

"I'm coming out, but you better not laugh!" London said.

Then London stepped out from behind the door. Zack felt like he got sucker punched as he stared at her. He literally stopped breathing for a couple of seconds. London being London was always dressed in the highest fashion. She never wore the same outfit twice, and she never wore anything casual, let alone wear a pair of jeans. It's funny how some girls have their "Cinderella" moment when they are wearing a beautiful dress. In this moment, with the skinny jeans hugging her curves, and her left-shoulder bare due to the off-the-shoulder style of the shirt, London was breathtaking. It was like she was a totally different person. A softer, more down to Earth, version of herself.

When he didn't say anything, London started to get fidgety, and she said, "If you don't like it, just say so. Don't just stand there like an idiot".

"No, I mean, yes, I like it. You need to buy that outfit. In fact, don't change out of it. It's perfect for the next thing I have in mind" Zack managed to say.

As London was paying for her clothes, Zack's thoughts became chaotic. For the first time since he's known London, he was aware of her as a _girl_ girl.

_Zack, you have a girlfriend! AND London is still London! She's just your friend! _Zack mentally lectured himself.

However, Zack couldn't stop himself from stealing glances at London as she finished paying. She just looked so different! When she was done, she turned to look at him with a slight smile.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be" London said, looping her arm through his, as they walked out of the boutique.

Trying to keep his head in the game, Zack decided to talk about what they were going to do next.

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><p>AN: Please R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers! I will try to keep them in character, but I think I will have to make the story OOC as it progresses. Sorry!

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><p>"Ok, for the next part of my plan, we're going to have to improvise since Woody, Cody, &amp; Bailey are all ashore," Zack said as he guided them towards the Sky Deck.<p>

"Okay," London said with a weird tone to her voice.

Zack looked at London to see if he could figure out why her tone was so weird, and he caught her chewing her bottom lip nervously. _What the heck? London, nervous?_ Zack didn't think he ever saw London less than confident. _Hmm, maybe the change of clothes changed more than just her appearance._

"Are you nervous?" Zack asked with amazement.

"Err, no. Why? Should I be?" London replied and promptly started to bite her lower lip again.

Zack couldn't tear his eyes away from London as she chewed on her lip. _This is classic! She is nervous! I wonder if she would notice if I took a picture of her!_ As Zack had this thought London noticed him staring, looked down, then seeming to compose herself, looked at him again with a smirk, and playfully punched him on the arm that she had looped her arm through.

"Stop looking at me like that. You would think I grew a second head instead of just changing clothes," London said.

Zack laughed to cover up the fact that he had been staring, and as they arrived at the Sky Deck, he went to a table and pulled out a chair for London to sit in. London stared at the chair and then back at him with a raised brow.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that you've never pulled out a chair for me before," London said as she sat down.

_Whoa! She's right! I wonder what made me do that._ But even as Zack had these thoughts he knew that at this moment he didn't see London as just a friend, which really made him feel uneasy. _Dude! Stop it! London is just your friend!_ Zack reminded himself again. Shaking his head, he sat down in the chair next to her, and tried not to stare at her again. So, instead he looked out towards the ocean, while he pulled the reins on his thoughts.

"So, now what?" London asked as she tapped her fingers on the table.

"Before we do the next thing on my list, I have to coach you on how to act."

"Gasp! First you make me change into these clothes, and now you're saying I have to act? That doesn't make any sense, Zack. We're not even on a movie set! And aren't you supposed to be helping me get a date to prom?"

Relieved at this typical London outburst, Zack was finally able to remember that London was just his friend. Until he looked at her, and felt like he got sucker punched again. Letting out the breath he was holding, Zack was resigned to the fact that he had to somehow get through this, with these strange new feelings, and find London a date ASAP.

Sighing, Zack said, "No, London, I mean I'm going to tell you what to do so you could be more approachable to guys. First of all, you need to smile a lot."

"Oh! Like this?" London said as she grinned.

_London has a dimple!_ Zack didn't think he ever noticed it until now, and seeing that dimple wink at him as she smiled did funny things to his stomach.

Clearing his throat, Zack said, "Yeah, like that. Next, you need to stop acting dumb." As London started to protest, Zack held up his hand and said, "I know it's an act, London. I've known it's been an act ever since I was 12 years old, and you can't fool me. I know you too well."

"Okay, fine," London said as she crossed her arms and pouted.

"Last, you have to be able to have fun without going shopping."

London laughed and said,"Oh, no, that just isn't possible! The global economy would not be able to survive."

"Do you or don't you want a date to prom?"

"Grrrr! Fine! But I'm going to spend twice as much when all this is over!" London exclaimed as she narrowed her eyes at Zack.

Zack had to stop himself from smiling as he stared at London. _I don't know why, but she looks cute sitting there pouting at me._ Mentally slapping himself on the forehead, Zack stood up, held out his hand, and when London placed her hand in his, Zack pulled her up and looped her arm through his.

"Now we're going to practice what I told you. We're going to play laser tag."

"Omg, shoot me now" London grumbled.

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><p>"Ha! Ha! I beat you Zack!" London yelled triumphantly as she jumped up and down, "Yay Me!"<p>

Zack smiled at her little victory dance. He didn't know how she did it, but she beat him fair and square. Then again, he _was_ a little distracted as he was tracking her through the maze. He had ambushed her early on in the game, and they had tumbled to the floor. As each of them tried to gain the upper hand, he found himself responding to their tumble in a not-at-all friend-like manner. Which in turn gave London the upper hand as Zack couldn't keep his head in the game after their little wrestling match.

"Yeah, yeah. I call a re-match," Zack said as he led the way out of the laser tag arena.

"Zack, I got to say, that was fun!" London said as she caught up with him and looped her arm through his again. "What are we doing next?"

"I think we're done for today, so let's just grab something to eat, and start again tomorrow" Zack said. _Maybe by then I'll be able to get a grip and stop thinking about London as a _girl_ girl_.

"Okay, that's a good plan. Let's just grab something & eat in your cabin," London said as she marched them towards the deli.

"Uh, why do you want to eat in my cabin?" Zack asked nervously.

London rolled her eyes and said, "Because I don't want crumbs in my cabin, duh!"

"Uh, why don't we just eat on the Sky Deck?"

"Zack, what's the problem? We _always_ eat in your cabin."

_Shoot! Yeah, they did always eat in his cabin, but usually Woody or Maya would be there too_. Well, actually, he and London did used to be alone in his cabin a lot before, well, before she changed into those pair of jeans and started acting like a normal girl. Before he stopped seeing her as an heiress, and before he had these weird feelings and thoughts about her. But he couldn't tell London all of that.

"Okay, fine, let's grab a couple of sandwiches and go," Zack resigned himself to say. _The sooner we eat, the sooner she'll go back to her cabin, and the sooner I can shake off these weird thoughts_.

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><p>London lay on her stomach on the extra bed in his room, finishing off her tuna sandwich, as Zack sat in a chair across from her.<p>

"You're awfully quiet, Zack," London said as she took a sip of her water.

"Uh, I'm just thinking about what we're going to do tomorrow," Zack said, but actually he was thinking about how weird it was to have London in his room alone. "So, how come you didn't go ashore with Bailey, Cody, & Woody?"

"I don't know. New York just didn't appeal to me after realizing that Bailey & Maya were going to be gushing about the prom, and I don't have a date," London said as she grabbed her trash and tossed it into the trash can by the desk. She then lay back down on her stomach, and laid her head down on her arms.

At the mention of Maya's name Zack immediately began to feel guilty. He shouldn't be having these thoughts about London while his girlfriend was out shopping and getting last minute things done for prom. _But you've always had a crush on London_, a little voice whispered in his head. No, I didn't! I had a crush on Maddie! _Don't deny it, you had a crush on London ever since art class, when she was selling your "mastersneezes"_. It was like a light bulb turned on in his head. Did he subconsciously have a crush on London since then?

He started to realize all of the little things he did that pointed to that conclusion. Things he did before he even met Maya. Like the time he picked London for the Marriage project Ms. Tutweiller assigned, the time he & London went stag to the dance but ended up with each other, and the time when he asked London to pretend to be his ex-girlfriend in front of Maya. His head started to hurt as all of these revelations run through his head. He was in love with _Maya_, wasn't he?

Noticing it was too quiet in his cabin, he looked over at London, and realized she fell asleep. Mr. Moseby was going to be furious if he caught London in his cabin, but feeling too tired and too out of sorts to care, Zack grabbed a blanket and draped it over London's sleeping form. He stood and stared at her sleeping face for a minute. He noticed how innocent and vulnerable she looked. Shaking his head, he went over to his bed, laid down, and stared up at the ceiling. Hopefully tomorrow will be back to normal, and hopefully someone asks London to the prom soon, because Zack just wanted things to go back to the way they were. He glanced over at London and listened to her even breathing. It was going to be a long night.

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><p>AN: Please read & review!


	3. Chapter 3

"No . . . don't leave me . . . I'm all alone . . ."

Zack woke up to someone talking in his room. He didn't know how long he had been asleep, but he knew it wasn't dawn yet. He blinked his eyes a couple of times to get his bearings and to try to figure out whose voice he heard.

"Daddy . . . don't leave . . ."

Zack turned his head towards the other bed and realized that it was London talking in her sleep. _Oh, that's right. She fell asleep in my cabin._

Zack rubbed his eyes to make himself more alert and decided he needed to wake London up. _She sounds like she's crying!_ Zack couldn't think of anything else to do but to wake her up because he didn't think he could go back to sleep listening to London cry.

Walking over to the other bed, Zack sat on the edge and shook London's shoulder, "London, wake up" he whispered.

"Let go of me! Daddy, wait for me! Don't go!"

Suddenly London started thrashing on the bed, surprising Zack, which caused him to grab London's arms and pin them to the bed. She started thrashing even harder, so Zack straddled her writhing body, leaned down, and said, "London, wake up! It's Zack!" in London's ear, trying not to yell.

"Wha-? Zack?"

"Yeah, it's me. You were having a bad dream," Zack said as he slowly moved off of London to sit on the edge of the bed again.

"You could hear me from your cabin?"

"Actually, you fell asleep in my cabin."

"Oh," London said in a low voice, "I had this horrible dream that Daddy wouldn't let me get off of this stupid boat or leave the stupid sea school. Even after all of you graduated. I dreamt that he came to visit but when he left, and I tried to follow him, he had one of the porters hold me back."

Zack could feel the loneliness and sadness in London's voice, and all of his protective instincts came out. He took her hand, and pulled her up so she was facing him. London was looking down and wouldn't look him at him, so Zack tilted his head down to try to look into her eyes.

"London that would never happen. If you didn't get off of this boat with us, then we would just kidnap you or find some other way to break you out," Zack said as he gave her a reassuring smile.

London lifted her head and returned his smile, which caused his stomach to flip. Moonlight from the porthole was shining on London, and Zack noticed a strand of hair caught on London's bottom lip. He reached over to move it back in place, and when he was about to pull his hand away, London grabbed it and pressed her cheek against the palm of his hand.

"Thank you for being here for me Zack."

For a second, Zack didn't think he heard her correctly. _Was she thanking HIM? She never thanked anyone!_ That funny flip-thing happened again in his stomach, and he had the insane urge to kiss London. Holding London's gaze, Zack leaned in slowly -

"Maya is really lucky to have you for a boyfriend."

-and stopped. Zack blinked at London's words, dropped his hand, and looked away. _Dude! What just happened? I totally forgot about Maya!_

"Yeah, lucky," Zack grumbled, and he felt London's weight leave the bed as she got up.

Not looking at her, Zack sensed that London was still looking at him as she stretched.

"Well, I better get back to my cabin before Moseby finds me in here. See you later, Zack!" London said as she walked to the door and left.

Zack, still sitting on the edge of the bed London had been sleeping on, flopped back, and stared up at the ceiling of the cabin. The bed was still warm from London's body heat, and he could smell the faint fragrance of her perfume, which caused him to groan in frustration. _What am I going to do? Maya won't be back for another 5 days and I'm going crazy here!_

Looking over at the digital clock on his desk, Zack noticed it was 4:45 a.m. Zack knew that he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep again. Needing to burn off his restless energy and needing an outlet for his frustration, Zack decided to play a prank on Mr. Moseby.

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><p><em>Almost done<em>. It took some time to get all of the Dixie cups & fill them with juice from the juice bar, so Zack was trying to hurry before Mr. Moseby opened his cabin door. Zack had decided to put Dixie cups full of juice all throughout the hallway outside of Mr. Moseby's cabin.

"Zack, what are you doing?"

Startled, Zack dropped the cup he was holding and turned around to see London behind him.

"Jeez, keep it down! I'm almost done, and I don't want Moseby to catch us out here!"

At that moment, the door to Mr. Moseby's cabin swung open, and Zack could hear Mr. Moseby's gasp.

"My word!" Mr. Moseby cried out.

"Uh Oh" Zack said.

Hearing this, Mr. Moseby spotted Zack at the end of the hallway, "Zack!"

"Hi Ya, Moseby!" London said and waved.

"London!" Mr. Moseby exclaimed incredulously.

"Run!" Zack yelled as he grabbed London's hand and ran towards the elevator.

"Where are we going?" London asked as she tried to keep up with Zack.

"The cargo hold."

London slowed her pace and said,"Uh uh, those snakes are still down there!"

"No, they're not. Moseby dropped them off at the last port. Hurry up!" Zack said as he tugged on London's hand.

As they entered the elevator, they heard Mr. Moseby screaming for the crew to stop them, but before anyone could reach them, the elevator door closed and started to go down. Zack looked over at London and after a moment they both started laughing.

"Did you see Moseby's face?" Zack asked.

London laughed harder and said, "Moseby's face? You should have seen your face when Moseby saw you standing there!"

"Yeah, and Moseby saw you standing right next to me!" Zack said and laughed again.

Finally the elevator doors opened, and they got out. The cargo hold was one huge space with rooms all around the perimeter for storing valuable items or items that needed to be handled with special care.

"We'll be able to hide down here for a while. I want Moseby to calm down before my shift starts in a couple of hours," Zack said as he led the way to one of the rooms.

The room Zack chose was filled with crates, and reading the description on one of the crates, it appeared that the crates were filled with antique vases. He led London into the room, looked outside to make sure no one was around, and then closed the door.

"Well, why do I have to stay here?" London asked plaintively as she sat down on one of the crates.

"Because Moseby saw you with me. He probably thinks that you helped me with the prank. What are you doing up this early anyway?" Zack checked his cell phone and noticed it was only 6:30am.

"Oh, well I couldn't go back to sleep after my bad dream, so I went to the spa to use the steam room."

An image of London in a towel, in a room full of steam, flashed in Zack's mind, and he swallowed impulsively as his mouth watered. _Stop it! London is just a friend!_ Zack berated himself. _Yeah, dude, whatever you say_, that snide little voice whispered in his head. Zack grimaced as he sat down, unsure of what to do now that he and London were stuck alone together. Again.

"Hey, aren't you going to tell me what the plan is for today, coach?" London asked, breaking the silence.

Zack looked at London and noticed what she was wearing for the first time. She was wearing hemp wedges, jean shorts, and a white peasant blouse. The jean shorts were short, showcasing her legs, and the peasant top had a wide neckline, showcasing her collarbones. _Collarbones? Am I actually checking out her __collarbones__?_ But, Zack had to admit, London looked softer and more approachable.

"Um, nice outfit," Zack said lamely.

"Thanks! I bet you didn't think I owned anything like this, huh? Turns out Bailey gave them to me for Christmas, and I couldn't throw them out in front of her, being that it was Christmas and all, so I threw them under my bed!"

"Well, it's definitely something that you shouldn't throw out. Keep it and buy more just like it. Ok, since we have some time to kill, let's talk about this prom date project of ours. The prom is 6 days away, so time is against us. Now that we've established that you need to be more approachable to guys, and we've worked on how to get that done, let's try to speed things up by narrowing the field and talk about who you want to take you to prom."

"Ewww! I am not asking a guy to be my date! That's the guy's job!"

Trying to be patient, Zack said, "I know. But, if you could have any guy ask you to the prom, who would it be?"

"Brad Pitt!" London exclaimed.

"No, he has to be a student from our school."

London bit her bottom lip as she thought some more. Then her eyes lit up, and Zack had the sinking feeling that he wasn't going to like her answer.

"Do you know the captain of the basketball team? Him! I want him to ask me!"

Zack felt like he got kicked in the gonads. _Trevor Van der Ploom_. Not only was he the captain of the basketball team, but he was tall and rich. Exactly London's type. Zack had played basketball with him a few times, and although he liked the guy, at this moment Zack wanted to rip his head off.

"Trevor? Yeah, I know him," Zack said through gritted teeth.

"Ooh! Do you think he will ask me to the prom?"

Heaving a big sigh, Zack reminded himself that he had no right to feel jealous over Trevor. _London is not your girlfriend. Maya is your girlfriend._ Zack repeated to himself silently.

"Tell you what, when my shift is over, I'll see if Trevor wants to play a little one on one, and I'll drop hints that he should ask you out."

"You would do that for me? Just make sure you're not obvious about it, k?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. Anyway, since I have to be at work most of the day, and then I'll be hanging out with Trevor afterwards, why don't you practice on your own today everything I taught you from yesterday?"

"Sure, sure," London said, and then Zack could tell that London was thinking about something that made her nervous because she started biting her lower lip.

"Uh, Zack?"

"Yeah?"

London took a deep breath, and then said, "If you didn't have Maya, do you think you would have asked me to go to prom?"

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><p>AN: Please read & review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Keep the reviews coming! They really do inspire me!

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><p>"Good game, Zack," Trevor said as he and Zack walked towards the juice bar, "I thought you said it was going to be a friendly game, but dang, you were playing me hard!"<p>

_Not hard enough_, Zack thought to himself. The game was really close since Trevor and Zack were evenly matched in skills. But Trevor did have the height advantage at 6' 2" to Zack's 5' 10", and he managed to make it to 21 before Zack. The loser had to buy the winner a smoothie.

"Yeah, I haven't played ball in a while, so it was good to get out there," Zack said even though he felt like crap. Being a "good friend", Zack did what he said he was going to do and dropped hints for Trevor to ask London out. The problem was that Trevor also noticed the changes in London that Zack himself noticed, and was already thinking about asking London to the prom. So, not only did Zack lose the game, he felt like he lost London too. _You never had her in the first place,_ Zack reminded himself.

As they walked, Zack thought about what happened in the cargo hold with London that morning.

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><p>"If you didn't have Maya, do you think you would have asked me to go to prom?"<p>

The room went silent, as the tension in the air grew. Zack figured they were both shocked by London's question.

_What do I say?_ Zack thought. _If I said yes, would she hear how much I wish it were true?_

"Would you have gone with me if I asked you?" Zack countered her question instead of saying what his mind was screaming for him to say.

As London thought about his question, Zack subconsciously held his breath. A part of him desperately wanted her to say, "Yes, of course I would have gone with you!" But another part of him was slapping him on the back side of his head saying, "_You idiot! Her answer does not change the fact that you have a girlfriend!"_

London bit her bottom lip nervously as she thought about his question, and Zack's eyes were drawn to her mouth. _Her lips look so soft_, Zack thought to himself.

"I don't know, maybe? Urgg, never mind. Forget I asked," London finally answered, "So, what are the plans for prom night? Once I get a date, are we all going to go out as a group, or did you and Maya plan something special for just the two of you?"

Zack let out the breath he was holding slowly, trying not to feel disappointed. He didn't want to talk about Maya. He wanted to talk about what could have happened between him and London if Maya wasn't around. _Stop it! Maya is your girlfriend!_

"Um, I'm not sure yet. I'll ask Maya what she wants to do when she comes back on board," Zack said, conveniently forgetting that he was supposed to be taking Maya to dinner at the Coral Lounge before prom.

"Well, I think we should all go as a group. Don't you think it would be more fun that way? . . . Zack? Hello?" London said as she snapped her fingers in his face.

Zack heard what London said, but his mind was still preoccupied with their other conversation. He was telling himself to let it go and he was trying to squash all these strange new feelings he had for London. Hearing London say "go as a group" and "more fun" just didn't sit well with him for some reason. Thinking about sitting at the same table with London and Trevor did not sound fun. Feeling agitated and not at all like his usual self, Zack grabbed the hand London was using to snap her fingers in his face, and pulled her towards him, wrapping his other arm around her waist to keep her there. Their faces were only a couple of inches apart, and Zack saw the pupils of London's eyes dilate as her eyes widened.

"Zack? What are you doing?" London asked a little nervously.

Zack couldn't think clearly with London's small, soft body pressed against his. Her fingers were clutching his shirt now, and he wasn't sure if she was trying to pull him closer or push him away. _What am I doing?_

Suddenly he heard the faint sound of foot steps outside the door, and he was saved from trying to explain to London why he was holding her.

"Shh! Someone's outside," Zack whispered.

London tilted her head toward the door, and when she heard the footsteps, she looked at him and said a silent, "Oh!"

They both listened for a while, and when the footsteps got closer, they panicked and looked around for a place to hide.

There was a long "coffin"-like crate in the back, and Zack noticed that the lid to it was ajar and the crate was empty. He quietly motioned to London that he was going to hide in the crate. London looked around, trying to find another crate, and as the footsteps got even closer, she gave up looking and ran over to where Zack was.

_Ok, this is going to be hard. No pun intended._ Zack thought to himself. Resignedly, Zack got into the coffin first, and since there was not enough room to lay side by side, London got in and laid on top of Zack. Somehow Zack and London managed to get the lid back in place, and they waited to see if their pursuers would come into the room.

As they waited, London laid her head down on Zack's chest, and Zack was wondering if she could hear how fast his heart was beating. He wasn't sure if it was because of the fear of getting caught or if it was because London was on top of him. _Think of math! Think of Woody's smelly shoes! Think of ANYTHING besides the girl that is lying on top of you! _Zack silently repeated to himself.

Suddenly the door to the room opened, and Zack could hear the crew members walking around the room.

"Do you think they would hide in one of the crates?" One of them asked.

At this, Zack tightened his hold on London and London tried to burrow her head into his chest.

"Nah, besides, we don't have time to open every crate in the cargo hold to look for them when, for all we know, they're back in their cabins."

"Alright then, this room looks clear," the first crewmember said, and Zack heard them leave the room.

When the door closed, London made a move to get up, but Zack stopped her and whispered in her ear that the crew members might still be there and to wait for a couple of minutes.

To be honest, Zack thought the coast was clear, but he wanted to savor the feeling of having London in his arms for a few more minutes.

_If only, I had the guts to feel this way. If only, you'd look at me and want to stay. If only, I'd take you in my arms and say, "I won't go, cause I need you. Please don't go, cause I need you now."_

The lyrics to an old song his mom used to listen to when he was a kid popped into his mind. After a few minutes, Zack reluctantly gave the go ahead to take the lid off of the "coffin", and they both stepped out.

"That was close!" London exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was," Zack said as he put the lid of the "coffin" back in place.

"Zack, I'm going to go now. I don't think Moseby will be that mad at me if he sees me by myself. I'll distract him and text you when the coast is clear," London said as she walked towards the door, "Also, Don't forget about Trevor!"

Zack grimaced thinking about having to drop hints for Trevor to ask London out.

As London got to the door, she stopped and looked over her shoulder at him, "You really are a good friend," she said, and then walked out.

* * *

><p><em>It's a good thing I didn't get into too much trouble with Moseby for the prank<em>, Zack thought to himself as he shook his head to bring him back to the present. Zack realized that Trevor was talking, but he didn't have a clue as to what Trevor said because he had been too busy thinking about the events of the morning. Now tuning in, Zack was relived to notice that Trevor was mostly talking about himself and Trevor didn't realize that Zack hadn't been paying attention.

As they got to the counter, Zack groaned silently. London was sitting on one of the bar stools talking to Tom. Apparently Trevor noticed London there too because he nudged Zack in the ribs.

"Hey, you know that smoothie you owe me, buy it for London. I'm going to say it's from me though. Cool?"

_Rich and cheap? What a winner!_ Zack sarcastically thought to himself.

"Yeah, sure," Zack said to Trevor's retreating back as Trevor made his way over to London.

Tom came over to where Zack stood at the counter and took his order. Zack ordered a Tangerine Tickle for London and a Pomegranate Passion for himself. As Tom went to get his order ready, Zack looked over to where London was laughing at something Trevor was saying. London caught him looking and winked at him before turning her attention back to Trevor.

Zack's felt himself gritting his teeth and he had to forcibly relax his clenched fists. He looked away from them when Tom came over with the drinks.

"Give the Tangerine Tickle to London," Zack said as he threw some bills on the counter.

Without waiting around to witness Trevor asking London out, Zack grabbed his drink and stormed off to his cabin.

* * *

><p>Zack woke up to someone knocking on his cabin door. <em>I must have fallen asleep<em>, Zack groggily thought to himself. He looked over at the clock and noticed it was only 8:15 p.m.

"Who is it?" Zack said as he got up.

"It's London."

_Great. She wants to tell me all about Trevor. Whoo Hoo._ Zack grumbled to himself.

As Zack opened the door, the first thing he noticed was that London was biting her bottom lip. He gestured for her to come in, so she swept by him and promptly sat on the extra bed in his room.

Zack closed the door and sat on his bed facing her.

"So, what's up?" Zack asked tentatively not sure if he wanted to know.

London continued to bite her lower lip and finally she blurted out, "Trevor asked me to go with him to the prom."

Even though Zack knew that the point of this whole thing with London was for her to get a date to the prom, he still felt like he got sucker punched.

Zack swallowed a couple of times to make sure his voice didn't betray his feelings.

"So, I'm assuming you said yes, right?"

London looked down, and for a second, Zack had the hope that she said no, which was crazy, since that would leave her without a date, and he was still going with Maya.

When London looked up, she got up off the bed and stood in front of him.

"I said maybe."

"Really? Why?" Zack asked little bit shocked but feeling somewhat relieved.

"Because I wanted to test something first."

"Test? What does that have to do with the prom?" Now Zack was really confused. He never knew London as the type to even think about her decisions, let alone conduct tests to help her decide something. She normally would decide impulsively.

"It has everything to do with prom," London said quietly, and before Zack knew what was happening, London cupped his face with her hands, and kissed him.

Zack froze & could not believe what was happening. It took a second for his frozen brain to start functioning again, and when it did, all of his repressed emotions and feelings from the past 36 hours came crashing down over him like an avalanche.

He immediately responded and kissed London back, wrapping an arm around her waist and bringing her on to the bed with him. Their first kiss wasn't gentle or exploratory. It was frenzied and was more like an attack, London and Zack each fighting for dominance. Zack poured out his heart and all of his longing in the kiss, and realized that in all of his experience, he had never felt this way when kissing a girl. Not even with Maya. With Maya, he always had to hold himself back because he didn't want her to get mad or accuse him of treating her like all of the other girls he had went out with. This first kiss with London was like he was finally able to be himself.

The sound of someone knocking on Zack's door made Zack stop kissing London.

"Zack! I'm back early!"

_No! It's Maya!_ Zack looked into London's stricken eyes. He leaned his forehead against London's, and silently groaned his frustration.

* * *

><p>AN: Please read & review!


	5. Chapter 5

"Zack? Are you there?" Maya asked from the other side of the cabin door.

Zack took a couple of deep breaths to compose himself, rolled off of London, and opened the door.

"Maya!" Zack said as he swept her in a hug, turning her so that her back was towards his room. Zack looked over her shoulder to see London getting up from the bed. London was straightening out her clothes & smoothing the bed over, but she didn't look at him. She looked a little flushed and a little bit sad, but other than that, she looked fine. When London was done with the bed, she walked over to the desk chair and sat down, still not looking at Zack.

_I'm sorry!_ Zack mentally said to London, willing her to look at him. And, as if London heard him, she looked at him and smiled a sad smile as if to say, _"It's okay"._

Finally, Zack let Maya go and put on the best smile he could under the circumstances.

"What happened? How come you're back so early? Is everything okay?" Zack asked trying to sound normal.

"Everything's fine! I just wanted to see you. I was thinking about how lonely you must be with everyone ashore."

"Hi Maya!" London finally said.

Zack felt Maya stiffen a second before she recognized London's voice and turned around. Zack had a feeling that Maya thought he had another girl in his room. Then he felt guilty because Maya trusted him with London, and he had just betrayed that trust. _Don't lie to yourself. You know you would kiss London again in a heartbeat!_ That nasty little voice whispered in his head.

"Hey London!" Maya said carefully, "Were you guys in the middle of something? Am I interrupting anything?"

London laughed off the suspicious sounding questions and got up. She gave Maya a hug and said, "I was just telling Zack that I have a date to the prom, and we were talking about all of us doing something together before we go to the dance."

_WTF? She's going to say yes to Trevor?_ Zack clenched his fists, trying not to grab London by the shoulders and yelling, _"What about us?"_

"That's awesome, London! Who are you going with?" Maya asked, oblivious to the tension emanating from every pore of Zack's body.

London looked at Zack, then back at Maya. "I'm going with Trevor Van der Ploom. He just asked me today."

Zack was seething. _What the heck was the kiss about if London was going to be going to the prom with Trevor anyway!_ Zack fumed.

Maya wrapped an arm around Zack's waist, and leaned against him. "Baby, we should all plan to have dinner together," Maya said, looking up at him.

Zack tried to focus on Maya's face, and relax his posture. "Yeah, that would be great," Zack said, hoping he didn't sound sarcastic.

Since he was so in tuned to London, he heard her catch her breath at his statement, and quickly looked at her to see her reaction.

"Great! Sounds like a plan! Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone. See ya!" London said with a huge smile as she walked out.

Zack stared after London thinking about what happened. Because he knew London so well, he knew her smile was forced. _Man, what am I going to do?_ Zack asked himself.

"Something's different about London. Do you realize we had a whole conversation without her saying something idiotic?" Maya mused out loud.

Without thinking about it, Zack came to London's defense and said, "London's not really dumb, you know."

Hearing the sharpness in his voice, Maya looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and Zack forced himself to smile to smooth over his quick defense of London. However, deep down, Zack felt a twinge of resentment. _London is one of my best friends and it's not cool that my _girlfriend_ is making fun of her,_ Zack thought to himself.

Needing to get rid of the negativity that he was feeling, Zack mentally shook off the last couple of minutes, took Maya's hand, and sat her on his bed with him. Desperately wanting things to go back to the way they were before the ship ever docked in New York, Zack looked into Maya's eyes, leaned in, and whispered, "Missed you," before giving Maya a kiss.

The kiss was the direct polar opposite of the kiss he had with London. This kiss with Maya was slow and gentle. But slow and gentle was not what Zack wanted! As in the past, Zack felt himself holding back with Maya, but this time he decided to see what would happen if he pushed her limits, and kissed her without holding back. _Would she react like London, and meet me at the level where we are barely keeping our clothes on? Or would she be upset that I crossed that boundary?_ Zack thought to himself.

So, with this thought in mind, Zack deepened the kiss and pushed Maya down on the bed. Zack's kiss became more aggressive, and Zack realized that he was frantically trying to recreate the kiss he had with London. Zack noticed other things as well, he noticed that Maya's body was stiff and she was barely responding to his kiss at all. Finally, he lifted his head to see her reaction. She was staring at him, and for a split second, he saw disgust in her eyes before she smiled up at him.

"Wow, you really missed me," Maya said.

Zack slowly moved off of Maya, and pulled her up to a sitting position. Disheartened, he realized that his kiss with London forever changed the way he felt about kissing his own girlfriend.

Sighing, Zack ran his hands through his hair and said, "Yeah, I did miss you." And that was somewhat true. He missed her before this whole thing started with London.

"What was that kiss about, Zack? You're not normally like that," Maya said with a hint of suspicion.

_I AM normally like that!_ Zack wanted to yell, but knew that if told Maya that, they would end up arguing.

Suddenly feeling weary, Zack said, "Sorry about that. I guess I just really missed you. Are you hungry?"

"Actually, yeah, I'm pretty starved."

"Ok, let's get out of here," Zack said trying not to feel relieved that he didn't have to be alone in his cabin with his girlfriend anymore.

* * *

><p>After spending a hellish night trying to pay attention to Maya, when all he could think about was London, Zack angrily wiped down the counter of the juice bar. To make things worse, he had a direct view of London &amp; Trevor sitting in lounge chairs together, talking &amp; laughing.<p>

London was back wearing her normal clothes, and looked stunning as usual. Zack now knew that it didn't matter what London was wearing, he would always find her beautiful. As Zack wiped the counter, he couldn't help but steal glances at London and wish he was the one sitting next to her instead of Trevor. As if she could feel the weight of his stare, London would occasionally look at Zack and smile a sad smile, but she would catch herself, and turn her attention back to Trevor.

Maya went back ashore after eating a quick breakfast with Zack and said she would be back in the evening. _Great. She must sense the change in me and feel like she has to babysit me_. Zack thought sullenly.

"Zack, are you trying to wear holes into that counter?" Mr. Moseby asked as he sat down on one of the bar stools, placing a stack of paper work in front of him.

Zack glared at Mr. Moseby as Mr. Moseby started organizing his paper work into piles on the counter.

"Don't you have an office for that?"

Noticing the sarcasm in Zack's voice, Mr. Moseby looked up from what he was doing and said, "Oh ho! What have we here? Zack annoyed at something _I'm_ doing? That's rich!"

Zack sighed impatiently, glanced over at London & Trevor, and said, "Sorry, I'm just in a bad mood today."

Mr. Moseby followed Zack's line of vision, and noticed London & Trevor together.

"London & Trevor Van der Ploom? Of course! I should have known. Mr. Tipton will be so pleased to know his daughter is dating the son of the creator of FaceSpace," Mr. Moseby said studying Zack's reaction.

"He'll be thrilled," Zack said through gritted teeth, unable to keep the derision out of his voice.

Abruptly, Mr. Moseby went back to making his piles of paper work and casually said, "You know, I have always wanted London to have a true companion. I fear she's been alone for most of her life. I never thought I'd say this but it was a blessing when you boys came to the hotel. Did you know I always thought that you & London had more in common than you & Cody, despite Cody being your identical twin? Of course, you have Maya, and Maya is a lovely girl, but London is alone again, so I do hope she finds herself someone to love."

Surprised by what Mr. Moseby said, Zack smiled a little half smile.

"It was a blessing when me & Cody came to the hotel?" Zack asked innocently.

Mr. Moseby rolled his eyes, muttered an "Oh Dear", grabbed his paper work, and before leaving said, "Don't forget you have clean up duty when your shift is over with Ms. Tutweiller for that little prank you pulled the other day!"

* * *

><p>Clean up duty consisted of cleaning out litter boxes, vacuuming cat hair, and re-arranging climbing structures around Ms. Tutweiller's cabin because the cats were "bored with the current layout". After vacuuming the cat hair, Zack decided to take a break and left Ms. Tutweiller's cabin to grab something to drink at the juice bar. As he rounded a corner in the hallway, he collided with a small, soft female body, and instinctively grabbed a hold of her arms to steady her. Looking down, he groaned silently, when he realized it was London.<p>

"Oh! Hey Zack!"

Reluctantly, Zack released his hold of London, and said, "Hey London. What are you doing all the way down here?"

"I was looking for you."

Ridiculously, Zack's heart sped up, and his stomach flipped. _She's looking for me?_

Calmly, Zack asked, "What's up?"

"I wanted to say sorry about the kiss. I know you have a girlfriend, and I should have respected that. It was a silly test anyway," London said and laughed.

Zack saw RED. _She's lying!_ Zack knew this without a shadow of a doubt because he knew her so well. She could fool herself, and maybe she needs to in order to save face, but she can't fool him!

When Zack didn't say anything, London became fidgety and nervously said, "Well, that's all I wanted to say. See ya!"

As she turned to walk away, Zack grabbed her hand, and pinned her to the wall of the hallway. Looking down into her startled face, he said, "You're lying" before swooping down and covering her mouth with his own.

Zack kissed her angrily, and for a moment London didn't respond. Then Zack felt her little tongue tentatively touch his, and all hell broke loose. Zack crushed London's body against his own, and London threaded her fingers through his hair. It was like they were both ravenous for each other. Zack lips drifted from London's mouth and he began placing hot, wet kisses down the column of her neck. He could hear her panting in his ear, and his only thought was that he needed to get them to his cabin ASAP.

Suddenly, London stiffened and started to struggle in his arms.

"Zack, Stop!" London said breathlessly as she continued to struggle.

Unwilling to let her go, Zack tried to capture London's lips again, however, London evaded him, and finally slipped free of his arms.

For a moment, Zack stood there stunned, staring at London as she turned her back to him. For a couple of seconds, the only sounds in the hallway were the sounds of their harsh breathing.

Finally they composed themselves, and London faced him again.

"Zack, I'm trying to do the right thing here!" London exclaimed.

"You think I'm not? I've been fighting the way I've been feeling for the past two days!" Zack yelled back.

"Two days? Zack, really two days? Congratulations! I've been fighting the way I feel for the past three months! Ever since Maya came on board!"

That revelation took Zack by surprise. He acknowledged to himself just the other day that he always had a crush on London, but he never realized that London might have had a crush on him too.

"Oh, and it might have escaped your notice, but you still have a girlfriend Zack. So, do all of us a favor, and leave me alone!" London said and stormed off, but not before Zack heard the little catch in her voice.

That little catch restored his hope, and now he couldn't wait for Maya to come back that evening.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for the long delay in getting this chapter up! I had a bad case of writer's block! Thanks for the reviews, especially the detailed ones! Those reviews got me out of my funk! Keep them coming!


	6. Chapter 6

As Zack made his way up to the Sky Deck to look for Maya, he felt himself get nervous. _What exactly am I going to say to her? Am I sure I want to do this?_ Zack thought to himself. Zack noticed Maya right away. She was sitting at one of the tables, and it looked like she was doing homework.

Zack noticed how pretty she looked sitting there, but he no longer felt the overwhelming need to be with her. He also didn't feel the trepidation he recently started to feel, preparing himself for any snide or sarcastic "jokes" Maya might say about the girls in his past.

Maya had once told him that the girls in his past were not as important as their future. Unfortunately, that didn't stop her from making "jokes" at his expense. It never used to bother him before, but it bothered him now.

Determined to make things as pleasant as possible, Zack quietly walked behind Maya, and poked her in the ribs.

Startled, Maya jumped, saw him, smiled and said, "Hey! You almost made me poke a hole in my application!" Then she stood up and gave him a peck on the lips before sitting back down and picking up her pen to start writing again.

Smiling to himself, Zack went over to the other chair at the table and sat down.

"What are you doing?" Zack asked since Maya was so engrossed with her writing.

Without even looking up, Maya said, "I'm filling out my application for the Peace Corp".

_The Peace Corp?_ Suddenly Zack felt like he was being left behind. Everyone knew what they were going to do after graduation. Woody was going to go to a community college in Cleveland, Cody & Bailey were going to Yale, and London was going to be traveling through Europe and Asia. Before everything that happened with London in the last couple of days, Zack had assumed that he and Maya would drive around America before deciding what they were going to do with their lives. He had no clue that Maya had a plan that didn't include him.

At Zack's silence, Maya finally looked up. She must have noticed the sullen look on Zack's face because she dropped her pen and took a hold of one of his hands.

"Hey, I haven't been assigned anywhere yet, so don't look so bummed out! Besides, once I'm assigned somewhere, I'm sure one of the Adelaides could keep you company!" Maya said and winked.

"Very funny," Zack replied, and seeing this as the perfect opening for what he was going to tell her, Zack said, "Hey Maya, I think we need to talk".

Giving him her full attention Maya said, "Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about Prom. Zack, I don't know what the future holds for us, but I want our time together to be memorable. I might be shipped off to some 3rd world country after graduation, so I want Prom to be special. So, with that said, I hope you don't mind, but I reserved a table for just the two of us in the Coral Lounge. I know we planned to go as a group with everyone else, but school is almost over, and I want to spend as much time with you as I can."

As Zack was trying to process what Maya was telling him, he noticed London and Trevor walk to the juice bar. His heart stopped for a second as the weight of all that Maya told him sunk in. _I can't break up with her now_. Zack silently told himself. At this realization, he looked over at London and saw that she was looking at him and Maya before quickly turning her attention back to Trevor.

Swallowing the sudden lump that formed in his throat and mustering up a smile, Zack said, "That sounds great, babe."

* * *

><p>"Zack, are you ready yet?" Cody asked as he banged on the door of Zack's cabin.<p>

"Hold on, I can't get this stupid bow tie on" Zack grumbled.

Cody must have heard the frustration in Zack's voice because he opened the door and walked in, followed by Woody.

Cody and Woody were already dressed in their tuxedos, so apparently Zack was the only one not ready.

"Here, I'll do that," Cody said in exasperation, "The girls are waiting for us you know!"

Zack looked over at Woody and asked, "Addison's not mad at you anymore?"

"Wellll, when I gave her a second note during Chemistry class, she didn't crumple up the paper and throw it at me."

"Did she rip it up and throw it at you instead?"

"Yes, but I'm taking that to mean she was making confetti and is ready to party!"

Zack laughed and said, "Whatever you say, Woodster."

"There, your bow tie is on, let's go!" Cody said as he pushed Zack towards the door.

"Hey, don't you remember that me and Maya are going alone to the Coral Lounge?" Zack asked as the three of them headed toward the Sky Deck to pick up their dates.

Cody threw his hands up in the air and said, "Great! London and Trevor bailed on us too, so it's just going to be me, Bailey, and Woody at dinner!"

"Hello? Addison might be there too!" Woody interjected.

Cody rolled his eyes, but Zack was more interested in the fact that London and Trevor bailed on Cody.

Ever since that last kiss outside of Ms. Tutwiler's cabin, Zack had not talked to London. He was afraid to be alone with her again because his feelings for her did not go away. Ever since he decided not to break up with Maya, he kept hoping that the spark he felt for Maya would come back. But every time they kissed, he kept wishing Maya was London, which was totally unfair to Maya. Needless to say, he had not really kissed Maya in the last couple of days. But he didn't want Maya's last memories on the boat to be bad memories. Especially since she was going to be going to a 3rd world country once they graduated.

Unable to help himself Zack asked, "Why did London and Trevor bail? Where are they going?"

"I don't know. London just said she would see us at the dance" Cody said distractedly as they rounded the corner and came in view of the Sky Deck.

Bailey, Maya, and Addison were talking together at the juice bar, and they all looked beautiful in their evening gowns.

They had not noticed the boys yet, so the boys were able to stop and admire their dates from a distance. Zack was between Woody and Cody so he could hear both of their reactions. Woody whistled through his teeth and nudged him in the ribs with his elbow, while Cody seemed to have stopped breathing. Zack noticed again how pretty Maya looked, but again, he didn't feel the spark that he desperately wanted to feel. In fact, the only thing he felt was disappointment that he didn't see London talking with the girls.

Finally, Cody and Woody snapped out of their daze, and the boys approached the girls. Zack gave Maya a hug. He found it funny that when Cody leaned in to hug Bailey, she put a hand on his chest and said, "Stop right there! I don't want you to get me all wrinkled before the votes have been tallied!"

At least that was a warmer welcome than Woody got. When Woody went up to Addison, she immediately turned her back on him and crossed her arms.

Trying not to laugh, Zack took Maya's hand and said, "We'll see you guys at the dance", and headed to the Coral Lounge.

* * *

><p>Once they were seated, Zack looked around the restaurant. <em>Where could they be?<em> There weren't that many places to eat on the boat and the only fancy place to eat was the Coral Lounge. _They have to be here somewhere._

Zack noticed a lot of people from school were in the restaurant, and he knew that Cody, Bailey, Woody, and Addison were going to go to the Deep Sea Dive, which was a nice but less expensive alternative to the Coral Lounge. _So, considering the other options on the boat, London and Trevor _had_ to be eating at the Coral Lounge, right?_ Zack thought to himself.

"Hey Zack, I'm over here," Maya said in an annoyed voice.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see who else was here," Zack said, and tried to hide the annoyance he felt when he couldn't spot London in the restaurant.

The rest of the meal went okay, and the conversation was good, but Zack couldn't help but be distracted with thoughts of where London and Trevor were. Then the worst thing anyone could ever imagine happening to them on Prom night happened when the waiter brought their dessert and coffee. Zack saw the whole thing in slow motion even though the whole thing happened in a matter of seconds. As the waiter approached their table, a guy sitting at the table next to theirs backed out of his seat without seeing the waiter approach. The waiter tried to swerve around the guy, but unfortunately he lost his balance, and dropped the tray with the dessert and coffee on Maya's lap.

"Oh Sh-! Are you okay?" Zack asked as he rushed to Maya's side with napkins. The waiter also came to Maya with napkins and apologized profusely.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Maya said even though she had the look of someone who was ready to punch something.

"I'm so sorry about this, miss. Don't worry about your dinner bill. I will take care of it," the waiter said as he handed more napkins to Maya.

After gathering their things, Zack followed Maya as she headed out of the restaurant.

"What do you want to do?" Zack asked, knowing that Maya's needed to change out of her dress.

"I'm not going to let this ruin my Prom, but I do need to change out of this dress. Luckily, I have the dress I wore to my cousin's wedding in my closet. How about I meet you at the dance in a half an hour?"

"Sure. I'll just walk you to your cabin and head over to the dance."

* * *

><p>After dropping off Maya at her cabin, Zack lazily walked down the hall. As he passed London and Bailey's cabin, he heard the sound of muffled crying.<p>

_What the heck?_ Zack paused outside of the cabin and listened for a while. _Yup, that's definitely London crying._

Zack softly knocked on the door, and immediately the crying stopped. He didn't hear anything for a couple of seconds, so he knocked on the door again.

"Go away" Zack heard London say softly.

"It's Zack."

"Go away, Zack" London said more firmly.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," Zack replied. When he didn't hear anything, Zack said, "I can stand out here and talk to you through the door, or you could open up and let me in."

After a few seconds, Zack heard London coming towards the door, and the door opened to reveal a disheveled London. She was dressed for Prom, but her dress was wrinkled and her mascara was running down her face. Obviously, something bad happened.

London motioned with her hand for Zack to come in the room, and she closed the door behind him. Unable to stop himself, Zack pulled London into a fierce hug as soon as she faced him. At first, London's body was stiff, and she tried to pull away, but when Zack wouldn't let her go, she leaned into him.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked as he held her.

At Zack's question, London started crying again and she slowly wrapped her arms around his waist. They stood that way for several minutes, and Zack rubbed London's back as she cried. Slowly, London's tears subsided, and the two of them were silent for a couple of seconds.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to mess up your tux," London said as she let go of Zack and sat on her bed.

Zack sat on Bailey's bed and again asked, "What's wrong?"

London didn't say anything for a few seconds, and then she finally said, "Trevor decided he didn't want to go to Prom with me after all."

Knowing that there was more to the story, Zack said patiently, "London, I know you. We've been friends for a long time. You can tell me anything. What happened?"

London bit her lip, and after what seemed like hours said, "Trevor and I were walking to the Coral Lounge to have dinner, and somehow a condom fell out of his pocket. I went to pick it up and I asked him why did he have it in his pocket. He said he was optimistic about how the night would end. I told him that he could get that idea out of his head because the night was not going to end like _that_. He got upset, called me a tease, and left saying that he was going to go find someone else to go to Prom with."

The whole time London was telling her story, Zack had his fists clenched and he was gritting his teeth. When London was finished talking, Zack quietly asked, "Did he touch you?"

Noting Zack's menacing tone, London quickly said, "No! No, nothing like that happened! We just got into a heated discussion and he left me alone."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm crying because my life sucks! I know what you're thinking "Poor Little Rich Girl", but, you have no idea how it feels to have everyone think you're stupid and try to take advantage of you! Zack, you have no idea how badly I want someone to want me for me and not for my money."

Processing what London said, Zack took her hands, looked her in the eyes, and quietly said, "I want you for you."

"Don't, Zack. We've been through this. You have a girlfriend, speaking of which, shouldn't you be with her right about now?"

_Maya!_ Grimacing, Zack realized Maya would be at the dance in a few minutes expecting him to be there. More than anything, Zack wanted to skip the dance, and talk to London. Being away from London for the past couple of days, and being with her now, made him realize that there was no one in the world who he would rather be with. But, he had an obligation to be with Maya at Prom. Because of his decision to wait until after graduation to break up with Maya, he promised himself that he would play the part of a caring boyfriend so that Maya's last few memories on the boat would be good ones.

Standing, Zack told London, "This conversation isn't over," and walked to the door.

London stood up as well, and as Zack walked down the hallway, he thought he heard her say, "Yes, it is," before closing the door.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for the loooooong delay in getting this chapter up! I lost my inspiration a few months ago, and now I have it back! Please read & review! Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing Zack noticed when he arrived at the dance was that Maya was already there. The second thing he noticed was that she was talking to Trevor. Zack clenched his fists, but took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down.

Zack was able to catch the tail end of their conversation as he walked up to them. Apparently Maya asked about London because Zack caught Trevor saying, "She decided she didn't want to go to Prom after all. You know how flaky she can be."

"Oh, there you are!" Maya exclaimed as she noticed Zack walking up to them.

Zack gave Maya a peck on the cheek before looking at Trevor.

"So, London ditched you?" Zack asked Trevor.

"Yeah, can you believe that airhead didn't want to go with me?"

"No, I don't believe it. Hey, we'll catch you later," Zack replied coldly before taking Maya's hand and walking her to the dance floor.

"What was that about? He wasn't hitting on me or anything!" Maya said as Zack placed his hands on her waist to lead them into a slow dance.

"Forget it," Zack replied, "Let's just try to have fun. You look nice, by the way."

Maya looked him in the eye for a couple of seconds, and then she smiled.

"Thanks," Maya said and brought herself closer to Zack so she could lay her head on his shoulder.

An image popped into Zack's mind of him holding London as she cried, and his hands reflexively tightened their grip on Maya's waist. _Zack, let it go. You're holding Maya, not London!_ That little voice whispered in his head. Slowly, he eased his grip, and released the breath he realized he was holding.

Zack and Maya swayed to the slow rhythm of the song, and Zack knew then that whatever he felt for Maya was gone. Dancing with her now brought no strong feelings except for acceptance that he only considered Maya a friend. Closing his eyes, Zack imagined that he was dancing with London, and immediately his heartbeat started to beat faster and he tightened his hold on Maya again. _Snap out of it, Zack! That's not London you're holding!_ That voice whispered again, and Zack's eyes flew open, only to see London staring at him through the window.

Zack immediately stopped dancing, and stared back at London. It looked like she cleaned up a little because her face was no longer tear-stained. Maya looked back to see what Zack was looking at, and Zack felt her body stiffen the moment Maya noticed London.

For a frozen moment in time, London and Zack stared at each other, while Maya looked back and forth between them. Then the moment was broken when London stepped away from the window and left.

"London!" Zack yelled as he let go of Maya to go after London.

Zack pushed the door open to leave the dance, but before he could chase after London, Maya grabbed a hold of his arm.

"What are you doing?!" Maya screamed at him as she pulled him around to face her.

Zack was frantically scanning the area, trying to see which way London had gone, but Maya's voice brought his attention back to her, and he realized that he could no longer wait for graduation to end things with Maya.

"Maya, look, I never wanted to hurt you-" Zack started to say, before _WHACK_, Maya slapped him.

"Save it! I knew I couldn't trust you! I'm done! Thanks for making Prom memorable for me, Zack. Have a nice life!" Maya seethed and stormed off.

Zack watched Maya walk away as he rubbed his sore cheek. He felt bad that things ended the way they did, but a part of him was glad that he could finally be himself again.

"Zack, are you okay?"

Zack turned toward Cody who obviously just stepped out of the dance to see what the commotion was about.

Zack hung his head down and put his hands in his pockets before asking, "How much of that did you see?"

"Just the part when Maya told you to have a nice life."

Zack walked towards a nearby bench and sat down, and it was only a second before Cody joined him. They stayed quiet for several minutes. Cody was trying to figure out what was going on with his twin, while Zack was still processing the events of just a few moments ago.

"Maya and I broke up," Zack finally said.

"Yeah, I figured that out, but my question is why?"

"She realized that I wasn't into her anymore, and she found out that I like someone else."

Cody stayed quiet for a couple of seconds then said, "Let me guess. You like London."

At this, Zack snapped his head around to look his brother in the eye.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Well, you're pretty obvious to me."

"How? I barely realized myself that I _like_ her, like her, just a few days ago!"

Cody rolled his eyes, then said, "Let's see, your eyes light up whenever London is in the same room with you, she's your favorite person to do 'homework' with (and I say that with a laugh), you pick her to be your partner in every project we're assigned, including the Marriage project, you always discouraged Marcus, and any other guy for that matter, from asking London out, you went to that other dance stag, but ended up with London, you asked London to help you stalk me during Spring Break, you and London ditched Woody on Senior Ditch Day, and when the boat was over-run with snakes, you were by London's side the whole time that Mr. Moseby was gathering the snakes, despite the fact that you were on a date with Maya. Do I really need to continue?"

"Ok, I see your point."

"So, now that you and Maya are not together, what are you going to do about London?"

Zack stood up and walked over to the railing to look out at the ocean while he pondered Cody's question.

"I don't know. I want to be with her, but a part of me wants to just keep things the way they are because I never want us to end up the way me and Maya ended up. I hate the fact that Maya and I ended things badly. I would rather have London in my life forever as a friend instead of having her end up as an ex-girlfriend. Does that make sense? Cody, I can't believe I'm asking you this, but I need some advice on girls."

"I'm guessing you didn't take notes on the video I gave you when you were wooing Maya."

Zack glared at Cody's statement, so Cody relented and said, "Well, if you're asking me what I would do if I was in your situation, I say, do what I did with Barbara and Bailey."

"Oh yeah, that worked out so well! If I remember right, both Barbara and Bailey yelled at you during the movie, and walked out, leaving you alone," Zack replied.

"Not that part! I meant what I did the day after. Send them both Sorry Bears."

"I'm not sorry for what I feel for London though."

"Okay, send Maya a Sorry Bear, with a note telling her that you're sorry that you didn't tell her the truth sooner, and send London a red rose."

"That's all fine and good, but what do I do about London afterwards?"

"It depends. Does she _like_ you, like you?"

"I think so."

"Well, you could always follow my six-month plan."

"Nope, I did that with Maya, and I ended up spending our entire relationship being you instead of being myself."

"Ok, let me think," Cody said.

As the minutes dragged by without any of Cody's brilliant ideas coming forward, Zack finally threw his hands up and said, "You know what? I think I'll just wing it. Get back to your date unless you want to send Bailey another Sorry Bear!"

* * *

><p>Being that it was only 10pm, Zack decided he couldn't wait until tomorrow to talk to London, so he snagged a red rose out of one of the vases in the Aqua Lounge, and headed towards London's cabin. He figured that would be the most likely place for London to be, since he already checked the Sky Deck and she wasn't in the Aqua Lounge when he went to get the rose. Zack's hunch was right because he heard music coming from the cabin as he approached the door.<p>

_Remember when, we never needed each other. The best of friends, like sister and brother. We understood, we'd never be, alone. Those days are gone, now I want you so much. The night is long, and I need your touch. Don't know what to say. Never meant to feel this way. Don't want to be alone tonight . . ._

The words of the song drifted down the hallway with such melancholy that Zack hesitated outside for a heartbeat before getting the courage to knock on the door.

_What can I do to make you mine? Falling so hard, so fast this time. What did I say, what did you do? How did I fall in love with you?_

Figuring that London didn't hear his knock due to how loud the music was, Zack turned the doorknob, surprised that it wasn't locked, and opened the door.

_I hear your voice, and I start to tremble. Brings back the child that I resemble. I cannot pretend, that we can still be friends. Don't want to be alone tonight . . ._

London was standing in front of her closet, so her back was towards Zack. Zack quietly closed the door, and noticed that there was luggage on London's bed. Immediately, Zack's heart skipped a beat as he realized that London was packing.

"London?" Zack said loudly so he could be heard over the sound of the music as the song hit its crescendo.

London whirled around at the sound of his voice, and her eyes widened when she saw him. She then went to her bedside table to turn down the music on her iPod.

Calmly, she asked, "What are you doing here?" before sitting on the edge of her bed.

At a loss for words, Zack walked over to her and presented her with the rose.

London raised her eyebrows at him, took the rose, set it next to her on the bed, and said, "What's going on? Shouldn't you be at Prom?"

Feeling awkward standing over her, Zack sat on Bailey's bed, took a hold of London's hands, and brought her around to face him.

"Forget Prom. What are _you_ doing? Why are you packing?"

London bit her lip and looked down at their entwined fingers. Finally, she looked at him, with tears threatening to spill over her eyes, and said, "I'm leaving tonight. I asked Daddy if I could complete the rest of the semester at the Tipton Hotel, and he said that was ok."

Zack's heart squeezed painfully in his chest at London's words. _Don't leave!_ He screamed in his head.

Frantically, Zack searched for ideas to get London to stay.

"Maya and I broke up," Zack blurted out.

Abruptly, London let go of Zack's hands and stood up.

"That's not what it looked like a half hour ago!" London exclaimed.

"We broke up after I tried to chase after you when you left. By the way, why were you looking at us through the window?" Zack asked.

London hesitated to answer Zack's question, but then she sat back down on her bed, and let out the breath she was holding.

Clasping her hands together, and looking down at her feet, London said, "I went to look for you because Maddie called. She wanted to let you know that she was sorry that she couldn't make it out to the boat to dance with you at your Prom. She told me how she promised you a long time ago that if you danced with her at her Prom, she would dance with you at your's. But she couldn't make it because her boyfriend took her on a surprise trip to Australia. I guess he wanted her to meet his family."

Feeling warm inside that Maddie didn't forget their long ago promise, Zack smiled a little half smile. But he also realized that it didn't matter because the only person who he wanted to dance with was sitting on her bed, looking at her feet.

Taking her hands again in his, Zack had to lean down to look into London's eyes, since she was still staring at her feet.

"Hey, I'm glad that you went looking for me. You being there gave me the opening I needed to finally tell Maya the truth."

London finally lifted her head to look directly at him.

"What's the truth, Zack?"

"The truth is, I thought I knew how I felt about Maya. I was perfectly fine being with her, and my only problem was trying to come up with money to take her to the Coral Lounge for dinner before the Prom," Zack said, "Then you came, and everything I thought I knew about you and our friendship went out the door. This past week has been hell. You know me, I'm not one to be all emo, but this week took me there and back. But, I guess I needed this past week to realize that I didn't really love Maya."

Zack looked into deeply into London's eyes to gauge her reaction to his words. He could tell that she wanted to believe him, but was holding back. So he continued his confession, "London, what I feel for you is more real than anything I've ever felt before. When you're with me, I feel stronger. I feel like I could be myself with you and not have to hide my flaws because you already know them and you're okay with how I am. When I'm with you, I feel like I'm home."

Holding his breath while he waited for London to respond, that little voice in his head snickered, _Dude, that was pretty cheesy_. Irritated with himself, he mentally told that little voice, _Shut up! That's how I feel, and if I could be cheesy with anyone, it would be with London._

After waiting for what seemed like eternity, London finally said, "Zack, that's how you feel like now, but you're three years younger than me. You shouldn't tie yourself down."

Angry that London threw down the age card, Zack lunged for London, knocked down her luggage from her bed, and laid on top of her.

"Do I _feel_ like I'm younger than you?" Zack asked before swooping down to kiss London.

What started out as a frenzied kiss on both parts, slowly turned into a sensual, gentle kiss, and Zack noticed little things, like how London wrapped her slender arms around him, and how he could feel her lips curve up into a little smile whenever he changed the angle of the kiss.

Finally, Zack lifted his head to look at London, and said softly but fiercely, "I don't care if you become my girlfriend or if we just stay friends. I just wanted to let you know how I feel about you. And, I don't want you to leave. Please stay so we could figure this thing out."

London smiled up at him, and said, "How about we have a friendly game of laser tag? If you win, I'll stay. If I win, you have to come back with me to the Tipton Hotel!"

Liking those odds, Zack slowly smiled and said, "You're on!"

The End-or is it?

* * *

><p>AN: I hope you all enjoyed my re-write of the Prom episode. This started out as a story for my friend, but after doing a lot of research (and watching every single episode of TSLOZC and SLOD), I actually fell in love with Zack & London, and couldn't believe they didn't end up together at the end of the series! Sorry to all the Zaya lovers! Anyway, please read & review! Also, let me know if I should write a sequel or write another story entirely. I'm hooked on Zondon!


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